Tag Archives: offer

While technology relentlessly marches forward, it’s important to remember that there are families across the United States who remain without internet service, or even a computer of any kind. As cable and fiber-optic technologies become more widespread, low-income families are left with few choices when it comes to getting online. Comcast hopes to change that by offering internet service for just per month — as well as a discounted netbook computer — to families that qualify. The program is called Internet Essentials, and will be available in all Comcast service areas starting with the upcoming school year. About the program In order to qualify for the Internet Essentials program, a family must reside within a Comcast service area, have a clean billing record with Comcast, have no current internet service, and have at least one child who receives free lunch through the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). Comcast is using the NSLP requirement to ensure that only low-income families are able to take advantage of the Internet Essentials option. The service provided by Internet Essentials includes connection rates of up to 1.5 Mbps download and 384k upload. Those speeds won’t break any kind of record, and wouldn’t be very useful for things like streaming movies or online gaming, but they should be more than enough for homework and other online school activities. Other options Families outside of Comcast service areas still have options for cheap internet access. Dial-up …